Hey guys,
First off I'd like to thank all of you for being so helpful- it's something I've only encountered with the 914 and 944 communities.

Anyway, I have a couple of questions that I've run into after looking at a '73 2.0 today. The car was 98% rust free with just a couple spots of surface rust (I know, good start right there) and the interior was nearly perfect with just a couple of small cracks around the screw holes on the rollbar vinyl. Is there any way that these cracks could be fixed- whether it be by reupholstering it or replacing it? The respray that the car had gotten in 2005 left a bit to be desired, also (the body was incredibly straight though)- has anyone gotten their car resprayed lately that I could get an idea of a cost on it and replacement vinyl for the pillars? Other than that, the car seems very solid mechanically and has a strong compression test from not long ago. I know it's difficult to put a price on something like this not seeing the car but does anyone have a rough estimate of what I should be looking at on it? Prices have jumped quite a bit since I sold mine a few years back so I'm a little out of the loop now.

The guy also has a ton of parts that come with the car that I'd like to not be stuck with- is there any interest out there for spare rockers (fiberglass "Porsche" embossed and a set of decent shape stock ones), excellent monza exhaust, complete factory fuel injection system (not sure I'd consider selling that, just in case), excellent Saratoga top (also may hold on to), driver/passenger headlamp motors, spare pedal cluster, and a few other things like a speedo, tach and interior door handles? Also have access to any body panels from a parts car ('74) which are pretty rough but not dented or smashed in any way.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me!

914Rubber.com will be coming out with the roll bar soon. So, just wait and replace. A respray can cost anywhere from $2000 - $15,000. I would suspect anyone who would charge less as the materials alone cost about half in some cases of the smaller number.

We are lucky in the 914 World. I have to "dumpster dive" for parts for my 240Z. No one is recreating them like they are for us.

Good to know on the 914Rubber.com thing! I was worried about trying to get that taken care of honestly. I figured a respray would run somewhere around 2,500 or 3 for a decent spray so I wasn't too far off there.

Too bad about the Z- I always liked those quite a bit. Maybe they'll be making more parts for them soon since it seems to be a popular series to do restorations on now

Replacing sail vinyl is not hard. If I can do it, you can do it.

See my tutorial:

http://76.162.11.251/tuck/sailvinyl.htm

I would be interested in the fuel injection, if you do not want to keep it.

Reread conedodger's post. Depending on what your idea of a decent paint job is, $2-3k is not only the low end price-wise, but likely the low end quality-wise.

Let's see some pictures of you car!


Also, you mentioned spare interior door handles. I you have a driver's side in great shape I may be interested in buying it from you. Please post pics!

Thanks for the sail vinyl tutorial! I didn't think it would be that easy to do.

I know that the 3K area would be lower end, but I have a buddy that works at a paint shop that does great work and is quite reasonable- they have done the front bumper on my Boxster a while back- but I didn't know what a full car job would go for.

I'll try to get some pics up later today and I'll get back to you guys on the parts when I figure out what I'm going to do

I've been looking at a lot of cars lately. 73-74 2.0 considered most desirable by many.
Mileage is a factor. A bad paint job is a big negative factor. Most of the big dollar cars are unmolested so repainting the car different color will matter to many. Wheels? Door cuts for speakers? Other wacky mods can detract from the value.

Also, some of the odd colors are back in fashion, what color is it?

Range would be from 5K to 15K without seeing the car. Post more info when you have it!

Paul

Be wary of a bad paint job. It may be hiding a lot of rust. No one would spend the time to repair all the rust that most of these cars had, and then put on a cheap paint job. If there is rust under the paint, you could spend double the paint job cost repairing the rust. Check every area that is prone to rust. If you find a little, there will be a lot. Being that you are in So Cal, this may not be as big an issue, but rust is the major cost in these cars.

Thanks for the advice, guys. The paint job doesn't scare me off because there really isn't any rust (as I said 98% rust-free from being in the dry, high desert climate) and it's been a while since it's been sprayed (2002 or so). There is also no bubbling or signs of rust on the outer body panels that I can see, and none in the rockers or battery tray.

It was resprayed the original silver- I forget what the name of the lighter silver color was- and that's the same color I'd repaint it. It comes with factory Fuchs including the spare. Interior is very much original, though the door cards have been cut for speakers. I'm not worried because the car comes with spare door cards that have not been cut.

I know the car is 40 years old but I don't want to get into something that is going to spend more time in the shop than on the road; I have the 951 for that. Is there much of a demand for parts that I could make a little bit back by selling the spare parts I don't need?

If the parts are priced right, they will sell here on 914 World.